New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-08-27
rnErE 10 LLND IL

The dramatic appearance oil Mt C"Wah, inc
Dem, cratic leader of the Citizen, Reform
League of Baltimore, upon the floor oil the
MARYLAND Republican Convention with speech
plcdgug the support Of tie independent Dem
ocrat, 10 the Republican ticket, was an event
Of Natl nal significance. 1t was proof ana
confirmation that the Republican platform t'ld
the truth when it declared the Presidents pro-
LESSONS in behalf II Civil service reform TO be
hollow and dcluSiNc, and left him his choice
between having his course considered " con-
fc>,ion Of in>uccrity on hi, pant, or PROOF
that his will i, controlled by the stronger VIII
Of the Senator from Maryland a most hui
initiating alternative. II did more than that
however. 1t emphasized the fact that IL is to
tho Republican party cycrywh here that the
sensible rciormcr will tuIn, for tie simple
reason that IL contains vastly larger proper
ton Of men who believe in reform than the
Democratic party.
Thi, is fact within the knowledge OF every
intelligent man. But fortunately We can make
the Democrats prove the cIsc aSunNt them
selves. We have taken tine pains 10 examine
~ the important platforms state ana Nation
al adopted since the passage Il the CNll
Service law in 1888, as they alc reproduced IN
TIE TRIBUNE ALMANAC. The Iassagc OF
that law was one Of the important acts Of the
XLNIlth Congress, and crystallHcd IN stat
ute sentiments that had aboundcd in party
platforms for many years. Yet, curousIy
enough. although the Democrats have made
tic noi>ic,t proles ions Of devotion TO reform,
both before and since the p; s>agc OF the law,
not one Of the Democratic convent, n, whose
platforms We have read has once slccihcdHy
approved the law. The reason Is PLAIN enough
The Democratic patty never have liked the
law. never have at heart accepted it; and, II
the real sentiment Of the party could make
it,olf felt would no doubt gladly repeal It,
Where their cunycntI,n, have referred 10 1T 1t
all it has been to carp at it, though they sci
dom dared to dcnouncc it openly In the first
year Of its o1cration, howcvcr-los3-this was
what they did in Ncw-JcIscy where the con
ycn1ion attacked 81" the sham methods Of the
Commission This was the only important
democratic convention Of that year which
made the slightest alusiOn to this important
enactment, whereas the Republican conycn-
tons in New YCrh Ncw-Jcrscy and lowa-wc
name only those platforms cited in The IGIB-
UNE ALMANAC-sI cciliCally approved the law
in the most positive terms In ONO and Penn
syiVania, while the law was not referred 10 by
name, the spirit Of the platform on the Subyct
WAS such "a, TO serve as an indor,cmcnt of what
had become a Republican policy. In 1881
the National platform, Of the two parties pc
scntcd tic same contrast. The Republican
pla, form congratulated the country that the
reform had been auspicior>ly begun and called
for its extension; the Democratic platform
kicked the subject out Of the way with SIX
words" We favor honest Civil Service rclom.
In 1850 there was an exception To the uni.
vcrsal silence in Democratic conventions ON
this sub ccl The Massachusetts, Convention
dId not sIuaiciy dcnouncc the law, bIt limited
at the creation Of an official class above and
Leyond the Icoplc.' The NcwYorN Conycn-
ton protested appreciation Of the " general
spirit that inspired the law, but attacked its
administration Iccllcssly The various Re
publican conventions which took lnins TO ap.
prove the law did 50 in cmph tic terms. and
in the progressive spirit that has been char
actcr,tic Of their uttcranccs ever since its
Ias>agc--that is to say, always in favor Of its
cAtcn~rn LAST year the most respectable
Democratic dcWcranCc on the brCt was
in South Carolina, where the convention called
for Civil Service reform methods in the
'minOr Offices" In California tho convention
demanded " the removal Of every Republican
now in Office by appointment, except those
holding under Civil Service reform, and that
Democrats be appointed in their places
Daring the present year the tone OF the party
toward the law was probably well represented
by tic Ohio Convention. where the chairman
attacked it and the body had nothing to say
in its defence. The Republican conventions
meanwhile grow even more positive in its sup
port. as for example the Maryland and Iowa
conventions, whose platforms we printed yes
tcrday morning.
The unvarying Democratic record Of Sullcn
silence Or open hostility is of great signiii-